Alicia Bock

Today I’m loving the work of Michigan-based photographer Alicia Bock.  Vintage-inspired polariods.  Gritty, personal and flirty.

Alicia Bock Website: http://www.aliciabock.com

Buy Photographs here: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=13988\

Alicia’s Blog: http://www.bloom-grow-love.blogspot.com

 

Speak for Animal Rights

To All People Who Care About Animals,
In 2007, Guillermo Vargas Habacuc, a so called ‘artist’, took a dog from the streets, tied it up to a short rope attached to a wall in an art gallery, and, in the name of “art” let it slowly die of hunger and thirst. For many days, the author of this horrible cruelty and the visitors of the gallery were simply spectators of the poor animal’s torture, until it slowly died after an absurd and incomprehensible agony. Do you think this is cruel? No doubt you do but the story doesn’t end here: the prestigious Biennale Centroamericana of Art has decided, incomprehensibly, that the utter cruelty committed by the aforementioned individual is ‘art’, and Guillermo Vargas Habacuc has been invited to repeat this sadism at the 2008 Biennale Centroamericanan which will be held in Honduras. PLEASE! LET’S STOP HIM! Sign here: http://www.petitiononline.com/ea6gk/petition.html

You don’t have to pay nor register, and its worth doing it so that this man will never be appreciated nor be called an artist for performing such a heinous act, for such an insensitivity and for provoking another living being’s pain. It takes just ten seconds of your time. Please help to avoid the unnecessary, cruel and sadistic suffering of an innocent animal.

If you ‘google’ the ‘artists’ name you’ll see other web pages related to this matter.

Poem: Look! This is Love

Look! This is Love

Come, come, whoever you are.

Wonderer, worshipper, lover of leaving.

It doesn’t matter.

Ours is not a caravan of despair.

Come, even if you have broken your vow

a thousand times.

Come, yet again, come, come.

-Rumi

lines and colors

I just came accross an interesting blog – lines and colors. Well maintained, a wide variety of subject matter and a great resource for technique and criticism.

“lines and colors is a blog about drawing, sketching, painting, comics, cartoons, webcomics, illustration, digital art, concept art, gallery art, artist tools and techniques, motion graphics, animation, sci-fi and fantasy illustration, paleo art, storyboards, matte painting, 3d graphics and anything else I find visually interesting. If it has lines and/or colors, it’s fair game.” -Charley Parker

lines and colors

lines and colors Critique: “Sassone’s brusque brushstrokes threaten to break up the representational image, as if it were on the verge of dissolution, but he holds back just enough, and includes enough elements of visual interest in his paintings, that they work both as representations of real scenes and severe abstractions from them.”

Yves Lohe

 

I stumbled accross the sculptor Yves Lohe today, while looking for (and not finding) a particular art gallery in Cannes, France.  Oddly enough, I noticed his sophisticated and whimsical pieces in a simple ”magasin de cadeau” (gift shop).  Working in bronze and colored glass, the results are stunning and dream-like.  His specialties lie in depicting both the human and animal form and in melding his two mediums so seamlessly.  Some of the smaller pieces are very reasonably priced, ranging from 90-300 Euros.

 

Yves Lohe
Born in 1947 – France

From an early age Yves Lohe’s character of a dreamer and a loner heart led him to grow up being close to nature. As a young man he found refuge in poetry and even wrote plays for the theatre. He had a dream that one day he would be a great writer! He followed the typical education studying law which he interrupted to diverge into teaching. Soon he realized that only sculpting would help him rediscover the emotions of his childhood. In 1972 he gained work experience with Abel Bataillard, the famous Maitre Ferronnier of Pigalle.

In 1947, he resigned from teaching and devoted himself to sculpting with iron – the material of which he made his first work. He began in the exhibitions of Paris titled “Independent French Artists”. Under the title of “iron hands” he made around 80 sculptures of hands, hand stokes, and fists which represented the cries of his lust for life. Later came his “thin” figures, expression of the body, the study of forms and attitudes that were his principal sources of inspiration, covering various themes such as dance, music, and everyday folk in the street. Little by little, the forms of the sculpture became softer. Lohe made monumental sculptures for the towns and villages in the North and East of France. He also made three works on the theme of “bicycle” and its different aspects – race, leisure and cross country. In 1979, Lohe built a bronze workshop and left his iron sculpture behind him. He presented his works through national and international exhibitions which gave him exposure on the most promising podiums of Switzerland, Belgium Japan, Taiwan Australia, USA, Arab Emirates, etc.

In 1991 his meeting with Werner Manesse, Maitre Verrier, gave him the opportunity to realize another dream: working with glass from its transparency to its color. Werner taught him the alphabet of glass, a vocabulary which would allow him to add the magic touch of light to the form and material, and therefore, to create his own poetry.

Yves Lohe created his own glass workshop. He quickly became acquainted with this new material and developed his own way of working with glass and bronze – a style which gives uniqueness to each piece of work. What is special about Lohe is the integrity of his work; his continual reflection on the harmony of color and movement. Each sculpture not only captures the eye but also awakens feelings in each observer. Yves Lohe does not give you a speech on his art. He is not the type to upset the balance. For him the most important thing is the opinion of the observer. From this is born a complicit relationship between the Artiste and the observer of his work.

Yves Lohe

MediaStorm

By far one of my favorite destinations on the web, MediaStorm produces original photo & multimedia journalism pieces of incredible subject matter.  From documenting a Marine’s Iraq experience to witnesses the downward spiral of drug addicts in New York to revisiting the Chernobyl disaster – the amazing work speaks for itself.

 

Don’t miss Kingsley’s Crossing, a very moving and personal story of young Cameroon man’s journey through Africa to Europe, in search of a better life.

They also maintain a nice blog where they are consistent with updates on workshops and job openings in the industry.

MediaStorm

Kingsley’s Crossing

Poem: Yosano Akiko

Black hair
Tangled in a thousand strands.
Tangled my hair and
Tangled my tangled memories
Of our long nights of love making.

Kuro kami no
Chi suji no kami no
Midaregami
Katsu omoimidare
Omoimidaruru

-Yosano Akiko

Tibetan Art

  

The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art in Staten Island is celebrating it’s 60th anniversary (1947).  The current exhibit features some of the finest examples of Himalayan art, rare books, memorabilia, historical photos of the impressive construction of the Museum, and period displays of her elegant gallery installations.

The exhibition reveals the previously untold story of Jacques Marchais (1887-1948), an extraordinary American woman who created a center to share with the world the ancient artistic and cultural traditions of Tibet and the Himalayan region. Because of her passionate drive to amass a fine collection of Tibetan objects in the 1920s – 1940s, New York City possesses one of the nation’s earliest collections of high-quality Tibetan art.

 

The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art

Open Wednesday-Sunday from 1-5pm. $5 Admission.

338 Lighthouse Avenue, Staten Island, NY  10306    (718) 987-3500

 

Love Me Some Moo

I’m totally head-over-heals for this new little London-based web company called Moo.  They produce awesome, adorable “mini” cards that are half the size of normal business cards and can feature up to five different images on the back of the cards.  Best yet, they’re only $20 for 100 cards. Don’t have your own cool images to showcase?  No problem!  Moo features a plethera of designers’ work to choose from.  They can also make a quality postcard.  Moo is a great alternative to say, VistaPrint.  The only drawback is that it does take about 3 weeks for delivery to the US.  But, even if you aren’t in need of business cards right now, it’s so worth it just to check-out the original work of their designers!

Moo.com